Sundry Edition
A Biweekly Newsletter by Salt of the Earth Consulting, LLC
Vol. 23 | October 23, 2023
At Salt of the Earth Consulting, we created Sundry Edition as a way to further our mission to be a trusted and beneficial partner within our community. Each newsletter includes a curated list of articles that fit a theme within the financial services industry. And, because at SOTE we each share a passion for music, we always include a few song recommendations!
Preparing for 2024
Fall is the time of year when financial services professionals begin to plan for the upcoming year. Three resources that we are looking to are McKinsey’s Global Banking Annual Review 2023, Goldman Sachs’ Top of Mind, and the OCC’s Fiscal Year 2024 Bank Supervision Operating Plan. Each are linked below and include key insights into what banks should consider when prioritizing strategies for 2024.
The OCC issues a supervision operating plan each year and this is a great window into how the regulator of U.S. national banks is guiding its examination force with respect to priorities. The first focus area in the 2024 plan is Asset and liability management. No surprise. After the challenges we saw in the first half of 2023 with liquidity and interest rate risk management shortfalls in a handful of large banks, the OCC (and other bank regulators, in our opinion) will be spending more time looking at how banks are managing these critical risk areas. Prior to 2023, our last significant bank runs date back to the Great Financial Recession during which we experienced bank runs on U.S. banks, such as Indy Mac and Washington Mutual, and banks in other jurisdictions, such as Northern Rock in the U.K.
Credit risk topics arise next on the OCC’s operating plan for 2024 and in particular, vulnerable portfolios such as Commercial Real Estate and Leveraged Landing. The Goldman Sachs’ report is of particular interest because the interviewees present credible, but differing points of view. The bottom-line: now is an important time to ensure that you truly understand the underlying credit quality of your borrowers and have a good sense for what scenarios might result in an adverse impact to those borrowers.
Finally, the McKinsey report is of interest because their focus is more on the strategic opportunities available to banks who are in sound financial condition and willing to explore beyond their traditional footprint.
And, if you are interested in diving even further into the minds of bank examiners you may be interested in Ncontracts upcoming webinar How to Work with Examiners. Ncontracts’ Rafael DeLeon and SOTE’s Kathy Dick will be sitting down this Thursday to share the inside scope on what examiners really want from financial institutions. Learn more below!
Salt of the Earth is a boutique consulting group that offers bespoke solutions and quality advice to people, companies and associations. While we strive to keep our finger on the pulse of all aspects of the financial services industry, you can read about the specific services we offer here.
What We’re Reading…
Rafael DeLeon
Ncontracts SVP, Industry Engagement
Webinar: How to Work with Examiners
What do examiners really want from financial institutions? Find out as two former bank examiners, Kathy Dick and Rafael DeLeon, open the vault and share stories and answer questions drawing from their experience as OCC examiners.
They’ll dig into topics including:
- How to build a strong relationship with your examiner
- The dos and don’ts of compliance documentation, risk management, and effective communication with examiners
- Examiner pet peeves
- Best practices for exam prep
Register today and submit your questions for this can’t-miss webinar.
Kathy Dick
Founder & CEO, Salt of the Earth Consulting
What We’re Listening To…
Something Good Can Work
Two Door Cinema Club
Great Expectations
The Gaslight Anthem
New Song
Maggie Rogers, Del Water Gap
Salt of the Earth Consulting 